I believe (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that there is a particular sheid by the name of "Yosef Sheida" that was mentioned in the gemara as helping chazal. Apparently, the Maharal also used this sheid in the creation of the golem (or so they say......). I'll work on sources for this.
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HodofHodFeb 1 '12 at 23:04

see the book Minchas Yehuda by Rabbi Yehuda Fatya. incredible accounts he witnessed.
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rayApr 6 at 19:19

7 Answers
7

The straight forward understanding of Chazal that their are sheidim and they are a trouble making species which are somewhat physical, somewhat spiritual.

Our Rabbis taught: Six things are said
concerning demons: in regard to three,
they are like the ministering angels;
and in regard to three like human
beings.‘In regard to three they are
like ministering angels’: they have
wings like ministering angels; and
they fly from one end of the world to
on the other like ministering angels;
and they…hear from behind the Veil
like ministering angels. ‘And in
regard to three, they are like human
beings’: they eat and drink like human
beings, they propagate like human
beings, and they die like human
beings. (Hagigah 16a, Traditional
Press)

Our Rabbis taught: there are three
reasons why one must not go into a
ruin: because of suspicion, of falling
debris and of demons [sheidim]… To one
[person] an evil spirit may show
itself and harm him; to two it may
show itself, but without harming them;
to three it will not even show itself
(Berakoth 3a, 43b, Traditional Press,
New York City New York, translated by
Maurice Simon, M.A., edited by Rabbi
Dr. I. Epstein B.A., Ph.D., D. Lit.)

Source Request - Where did Abaye decree that Mazikim should no longer bother us?
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MenachemSep 2 '11 at 20:38

2

@Menachem: Pesachim 112b, bottom. Although it doesn't say that he addressed all of the mazikin, just their queen Igras bas Machalas.
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AlexSep 2 '11 at 20:46

1

@Menachem which is probably why R' Yoel Baal Shem had problems with them later.
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HodofHodSep 22 '11 at 21:21

1

@HodofHod: This would also fit in with the Minchat Elazar's statement that the Baal Shem Tov permanently banned them from civilized areas (after a period of using them for his own purposes): Divre Torah Vol 9, chapter 89 -- hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=4714&pgnum=71
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MenachemSep 22 '11 at 22:12

1

@HodofHod: My understanding is that was a localized ban, limited to the house in the story. As the story says (on page 207) - "From that day onwards, those dreadful creatures, the demons, were never again either seen or heard in that house." - hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15614&st=&pgnum=207
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MenachemNov 24 '11 at 2:52

The gemara clearly mentions sheidim, and there were certainly Rishonim (e.g. Rashi) and Acharonim who took these mentions literally.

The Rambam takes them non-literally, as he writes in Moreh Nevuchim 1:7 and in his perush haMishnayot to Avodah Zarah 4:7.

The Kotzker Rebbe has a famous elu veElu in which he explains that the Rambam effectively paskened sheidim out of existence. However, if one looks at the actual words of the Rambam, it seems rather unlikely that the Rambam would agree to this harmonization.

The Kotzker was not the only one to offer an "eilu v'eilu" approach. The Minchas Elazar offers a different approach based on a gemara in Pesachim and on the fact that the Moreh Nevuchim was written with a particular audience in mind. (What he does with the Peirush Hamishnayos reference, I don't know.) Also, it should be noted that there do exist other rishonim that criticize the Rambam for this statement.
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jakeFeb 28 '11 at 14:42

It is true that the Talmud Bavli clearly mentions shedim in many places. As in other areas, they followed the science of the time, so something that seems unscientific now was a reasonable belief back then.
However, that doesn't mean they were completely wrong. They felt there were certain harmful invisible forces that existed in the world and that one must protect himself from. Although we wouldn't call these forces 'demons' nowadays, we do know of other microscopic forces that can cause harm. So if they said one should wash his hands to get rid of "ruach rah" or "bad spirits", it wasn't exactly wrong. Washing hands does help get rid of the "bad spirits" of bacteria. While its true not all cases can be explained like this, the overall belief in 'demons' can often be connected to many real phenomena.

Most of the mysticism of the Gemora can be explained with knowledge of things which can not be directly seen by the human eye.
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aviSep 3 '11 at 20:57

2

I've never seen any poskim permitting things based on such Svaros. In that case, one would not have to wash one's hands before bread with a keli, just use a good disinfectant.
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Shmuel BrinSep 4 '11 at 4:27

It was given as an example. There are other reasons we wash our hands, such as "beriyah chadashah", that we're like a new creation when we wake up. Anyways, a gzeira can stay in a certain way, even if there are reasons to do it differently. Though most halachos relating to 'shedim' and 'zugos' are not in fact kept today, sonmething the rishonim already discuss.
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Ariel KSep 4 '11 at 4:58

1

Your answer is based on the assumption that sheidim indeed do not exist. You bring no proof to this assumption, so you didn't answer the OP's question. In addition, the gemara in brachos mentions an amora who actually saw demons and was harmed by them. The gemara was very obviously not talking about microscopic germs. You also (somewhat condescendingly) write "so the fact that most people don't believe in demons don't exist doesn't dishonor them in any way". You're absolutely right in this, as the fact that most people dont believe in them proves absolutely nothing.
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ShragaJan 31 '13 at 13:35

@Phil You can see Jewish sources for the fact that they don't exist elsewhere on this page. You may consider this answer a limmud zechut as to how to understand the words of Chazal according to those opinions.
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Double AA♦Feb 3 '13 at 5:29

The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, in his memoirs, recounts a story about the Alter Rebbe's (Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the first Chabad Rebbe) great-grandfather, R' Baruch Batlan. Apparently, he was a tenant in a building which became inhabited by sheidim after the passing of the building's owners. After trying several ways to remove them, his Rebbe, R' Yoel, the Baal Shem of Zamoshtch, came and called them to a "Din Torah". The story is fascinating in its entirety, but in short, the Beis Din paskened that they must leave the building, so they did.

Interestingly, it appears that they are held by the ban to avoid inhabited places, and only violated it in this case on the orders of Ashmedai. The sheidim held that they were the legal heirs to the building's owners, because the owners' curses had created them.

The Rambam, practically alone among the major commentators, has the almost unique view that sheidim do not exist, and the entire idea was a simple superstition, played upon by the Sages for use parables and other concepts. Consequently, he interpreted all the Gemaros and Midrashim that mention sheidim as allegories or the like. Though some of his interpretations can be found in Moreh Nevuchim, we unfortunately do not have his explanations to all the Aggados in Shas, though he did at one time plan on compiling such a book (see his introduction to the Moreh). His son Rav Avraham seems to hold his father's views on the matter. See, for example, his introduction to Aggados, printed in most editions of Ein Yaakov. The Meiri, in his running commentary of the Gemara, makes a point of trying to explain how the Rambam may have learned these Gemaras.
The vast majority of Rishonim and Acharonim, however, chief among them the Ramban, are of the opinion that sheidim do in fact exist. This is primarily based on the hundreds of references in Chazal to sheidim, which certainly seem to exist. The Ramchal in Derech Hashem explains that sheidim are somewhat physical and somewhat spiritual beings.
The Tannaim and Amoraim seemed to frequently meet and even interact with sheidim. The question remains: Why do we not see or detect sheidim nowadays? The simple answer is that we are not on the spiritual level to notice such beings. My Grandfather shlita told me that Rabbi Ruderman zt"l, late Rosh Yeshivah of Ner Yisroal, suggested a different reason. The Gemara in Pesachim 112b relates that certain great Sages were on the spiritual stature to decree, as it were, that the sheidim not reveal themselves on certain days of the week. Rav Ruderman suggested, perhaps somewhat in jest, that the very fact that the Rambam thought shaidim do not exist caused, as it were, their disappearance.

The Meiri reinterprets "mazikin" and the like wherever they appear in Shas as anthing from the evil inclination to thoughts of heresy. See here which lists instances of such reinterpretation by the Meiri.